The epidemiology of anaphylaxis in Europe: protocol for a systematic review

Background The European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology is in the process of developing its Guideline for Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis, and this systematic review is one of seven inter-linked evidence syntheses that are being undertaken in order to provide a state-of-the-art synopsis of the current evidence base in relation to epidemiology, prevention, diagnosis and clinical management and impact on quality of life, which will be used to inform clinical recommendations. The aims of this systematic review will be to understand and describe the epidemiology of anaphylaxis, i.e. frequency, risk factors and outcomes of anaphylaxis, and describe how these characteristics vary by person, place and time. Methods A highly sensitive search strategy has been designed to retrieve all articles combining the concepts of anaphylaxis and epidemiology from electronic bibliographic databases. Discussion This review will aim to provide some estimates of the incidence and prevalence of anaphylaxis in Europe. The occurrence of anaphylaxis can have a profound effect on the quality of life of the sufferer and their family. Estimates of disease frequency will help us to ascertain the burden of anaphylaxis and provide useful comparators for management strategies.BioMed Central open acces

Treatment of melanoma cells with the synthetic retinoid CD437 induces apoptosis via activation of AP-1 in vitro, and causes growth inhibition in xenografts in vivo

Human malignant melanoma is notoriously resistant to pharmacological modulation. We describe here for the first time that the synthetic retinoid CD437 has a strong dose-dependent antiproliferative effect on human melanoma cells (IC50: 5 x 10(-6) M) via the induction of programmed cell death, as judged by analysis of cell morphology, electron microscopical features, and DNA fragmentation. Programmed cell death was preceded by a strong activation of the AP-1 complex in CD437-treated cells as demonstrated by gel retardation and chloramphenicol transferase (CAT) assays. Northern blot analysis showed a time-dependent increase in the expression of c-fos and c-jun encoding components of AP-1, whereas bcl-2 and p53 mRNA levels remained constant. CD437 also exhibited a strong growth inhibitory effect on MeWo melanoma cells in a xenograft model. In tissue sections of CD437-treated MeWo tumors from these animals, apoptotic melanoma cells and c-fos overexpressing cells were colocalized by TdT-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate-digoxigenin nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining and in situ hybridization. Taken together, this report identifies CD437 as a retinoid that activates and upregulates the transcription factor AP-1, leading eventually to programmed cell death of exposed human melanoma cells in vitro and in vivo. Further studies are needed to evaluate whether synthetic retinoids such as CD437 represent a new class of retinoids, which may open up new ways to a more effective therapy of malignant melanoma

On computing order quantities for perishable inventory control with non-stationary

We study the global optimal solution for a planning problem of inventory control of perishable products and non-stationary demand

Frequency of food allergy in Europe:an updated systematic review and meta-analysis

Food allergy (FA) is increasingly reported in Europe, however, the latest prevalence estimates were based on studies published a decade ago. The present work provides the most updated estimates of the prevalence and trends of FA in Europe. Databases were searched for studies published between 2012 and 2021, added to studies published up to 2012. In total, 110 studies were included in this update. Most studies were graded as moderate risk of bias. Pooled lifetime and point prevalence of self-reported FA were 19.9% (95% CI 16.6–23.3) and 13.1% (95% CI 11.3–14.8), respectively. The point prevalence of sensitization based on specific IgE (slgE) was 16.6% (95% CI 12.3–20.8), skin prick test (SPT) 5.7% (95% CI 3.9–7.4), and positive food challenge 0.8% (95% CI 0.5–0.9). While lifetime prevalence of self-reported FA and food challenge positivity only slightly changed, the point prevalence of self-reported FA, sIgE and SPT positivity increased from previous estimates. This may reflect a real increase, increased awareness, increased number of foods assessed, or increased number of studies from countries with less data in the first review. Future studies require rigorous designs and implementation of standardized methodology in diagnosing FA, including use of double-blinded placebo-controlled food challenge to minimize potential biases

First Observation of the Rare Decay Mode K-long -> e+ e-

In an experiment designed to search for and study very rare two-body decay modes of the K-long, we have observed four examples of the decay K-long -> e+ e-, where the expected background is 0.17+-0.10 events. This observation translates into a branching fraction of 8.7^{+5.7}_{-4.1} X 10^{-12}, consistent with recent theoretical predictions. This result represents by far the smallest branching fraction yet measured in particle physics.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Strain-Tuned Magnetic Frustration in a Square Lattice J1J_1-J2J_2 Material

Magnetic frustration is a route that can lead to the emergence of novel ground states, including spin liquids and spin ices. Such frustration can be introduced through either the geometry of lattice structures or by incompatible exchange interactions. Identifying suitable strategies to control the degree of magnetic frustration in real systems is an active field of research. In this study, we devise a design principle for the tuning of frustrated magnetism on the square lattice through the manipulation of nearest (NN) and next-nearest neighbor (NNN) antiferromagnetic (AF) exchange interactions. By studying the magnon excitations in epitaxially-strained La$_2$NiO$_4$ films using resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) we show that, in contrast to the cuprates, the dispersion peaks at the AF zone boundary. This indicates the presence of an AF-NNN spin interaction. Using first principles simulations and an effective spin-model, we demonstrate the AF-NNN coupling to be a consequence of the two-orbital nature of La$_2$NiO$_4$. Our results demonstrate that compressive strain can enhance this coupling, providing a design principle for the tunability of frustrated magnetism on a square lattice

Organism-sediment interactions govern post-hypoxia recovery of ecosystem functioning

Hypoxia represents one of the major causes of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning loss for coastal waters. Since eutrophication-induced hypoxic events are becoming increasingly frequent and intense, understanding the response of ecosystems to hypoxia is of primary importance to understand and predict the stability of ecosystem functioning. Such ecological stability may greatly depend on the recovery patterns of communities and the return time of the system properties associated to these patterns. Here, we have examined how the reassembly of a benthic community contributed to the recovery of ecosystem functioning following experimentally-induced hypoxia in a tidal flat. We demonstrate that organism-sediment interactions that depend on organism size and relate to mobility traits and sediment reworking capacities are generally more important than recovering species richness to set the return time of the measured sediment processes and properties. Specifically, increasing macrofauna bioturbation potential during community reassembly significantly contributed to the recovery of sediment processes and properties such as denitrification, bedload sediment transport, primary production and deep pore water ammonium concentration. Such bioturbation potential was due to the replacement of the small-sized organisms that recolonised at early stages by large-sized bioturbating organisms, which had a disproportionately stronger influence on sediment. This study suggests that the complete recovery of organism-sediment interactions is a necessary condition for ecosystem functioning recovery, and that such process requires long periods after disturbance due to the slow growth of juveniles into adult stages involved in these interactions. Consequently, repeated episodes of disturbance at intervals smaller than the time needed for the system to fully recover organism-sediment interactions may greatly impair the resilience of ecosystem functioning.